Happy Easter!

We are blessed in so many ways, but nothing compares to the amazing gift God gave us through the death and resurrection of His Son. I can't help but marvel at the magnitude of what He did for us! What a privilege we have to celebrate Easter and reflect on God's grace. Even though the holiday has come and gone for another year, I pray that our hearts will be filled with the joy of our risen Christ throughout the year.

This year for Easter, we spent the afternoon with the Boudreaus and enjoyed our time with the family. We also got to hear about Granny & PaPa's trip to Israel, what a treat! Here are some pictures from the day:

Family Picture - Doesn't Carter look all grown up in his big-boy tie?


The cousins (We took at least 20 pictures, but couldn't get one with all three of them smiling at the same time - I think this one was the result of crazy Uncle Dave doing something goofy:).)


After naptime, all the kiddos went hunting for eggs...


Carter was so excited that he could actually see the candy inside this egg. It took some effort to convince him to put it in his basket and keep hunting.


Carter opened all his eggs and found an assortment of Goldfish, Teddy Grahams, and candy...but he was most excited about the ones with "money" (hopefully we have several years ahead that he still gets excited over dimes, nickels, & pennies:) )

Coloring Easter Eggs

We debated whether to wait another year before attempting this again - last year I think we ended up with one egg out of a dozen that didn't get cracked. This year, however, we only had one casualty, and we couldn't even blame Carter...I have to take responsibility for that one.

Carter is patiently waiting for the eggs to be ready. (We've learned it's best not to bother with a shirt for these messy projects:). )


Carter did a great job placing the eggs in and then helping Daddy check on them.


Our colorful egg family... Carter & Daddy named them all...


This one is "little Carter"

Easter Egg Hunt

This past Saturday our class at church had a picnic with an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids. It was perfect weather and we really enjoyed the time with our friends. Here are a few pictures:

This one cracks me up - I'm pretty sure Ryan is giving Carter strategic advice on collecting his eggs:).


Waiting at the starting line...


On the hunt...


Now he's really serious...two at a time...


"How do you get this silly monkey egg open?"


Checking out his goodies with Mommy...


YEA!!! CANDY!!!

Ouch!

You should see the other guy.....

...the sidewalk, that is...

Carter took a bit of a fall after church Sunday night. Unfortunately, his face took the brunt of it...it could have been a lot worse, but it still looks painful!

Six Flags

Charlyn & I joined the masses during Spring Break week and went to Six Flags with the kiddos. It was definitely busy, but the kiddie rides weren't too bad. It's always fun to see them having such a good time. Thanks for the passes Granny & PaPa!

We started out on the planes and learned that it's better to let them each have their own plane so they don't have to "share control":)


The swings are always a hit


Snack time...apparently "cheddar bunnies" are more fun than goldfish...


Carter LOVED the trucks - first thing he did was adjust his mirror - at least he's learning good driving habits early:)


"Boot Scootin' " - Carter agreed to let Avery buckle their seatbelt, but he is closely supervising to ensure it's done correctly.


Bugs Bunny - or as Carter prefers to call him, Easter Bunny


Daffy Duck

Carter's Big Boy Bed

We actually made the final step from toddler bed to full-sized bed last night. It was long overdue, so we finally "bit the bullet", bought a full-sized mattress and converted his crib/toddler bed into the real deal. He's been talking about getting his big bed all week, so he was thrilled to help daddy put it together last night.

We deliberated on letting Carter pick out everything for his new bed, but after seeing the massive version of Lightening McQueen & Mater on the bedspread, we compromised...Carter picked out the Lightening McQueen sheets and Mommy & Daddy picked out the plain 'ole bedspread.

As expected, Carter doesn't need any help getting up there..."I can do it myself."


The entourage of animals made the transition as well...


I stuck out my tongue to try to make him smile...this is what I got in return...


The Little Einsteins also like the new bed.


Night, night! (It was actually dark in his room at this point, that flash works wonders!)

Nothing New...

It's been a while since our last post, but we really have nothing new to report. Apparently our lives are not that exciting right now...

We're definitely staying busy - Ryan's working hard to keep up with his job and his online classes, I'm still chasing Carter & Trevor around all day and have also picked up a few more tutoring sessions in the evenings, and Carter is valiantly trying to master the potty training issue. Our weekdays are pretty crazy, so on the weekends we just try to catch our breath and prepare for the next week:).

Carter is fast approaching his 3rd birthday (wow!) and has quite a mind of his own. The past few days I've found myself calling Ryan at work several times to share the funny comments he makes throughout the day before I forget them. This then prompted me to add a section on our blog entitled "Quotes from Carter". To the right, you'll find the latest comments, along with some of his standard lines... enjoy!

A few random pics from the last several weeks:

Helping with laundry


Showing off his new "Little Einsteins" Rocket, which he picked out himself at the store with money sent from grandparents & great grandparents


Trevor & Carter: Batman Buddies